Cattle futures are holding up quite well, according to David Derwin, Portfolio Manager at Ventum Financial in Winnipeg.
Derwin said cattle futures are up five per cent from the spring and summertime highs, seeing feeder cattle prices around $350 USD per hundredweight and about $230 USD per hundredweight for December live cattle futures.
"These levels certainly provide some good pricing and some interesting pricing as we come into this fall run here," he said, noting clients have taken advantage of current prices.
Prices have also rebounded since July due to supply concerns from multiple beef plant closures in the U.S., Derwin noted.
The upward trend comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its monthly cattle on feed report on Friday.
Derwin said the report was bullish overall "for prices just because of the way the numbers that came out", pointing to feeder and live cattle futures moving up by about $1.50 per hundredweight in response to the report.
"So not a huge move on what could have been interpreted as a fairly bullish report, but still moving a little bit higher nonetheless," he said. "So important to see how it reacts after the report as much as anything else, and so far, it's up but not overly."
December live cattle futures were up Monday seven cents to close at $231.20, and the February contract for live cattle was up one dollar to $234.35.
November and January feeder cattle were both up in trading Monday. The November contract was up 42 cents to $348.55 and the January contract increased 65 cents to $346.00.
Derwin sees cattle prices going higher for the remainder of the year based on current trends.
